Happy Hannukah! We hope you have received a letter announcing Temple’s Board of Trustees unanimous vote in support of hiring Rabbi Brian Stoller to be our new Senior Rabbi. Rabbi Stoller’s warmth, intellect, and genuine personality shined throughout our search process. Our entire search committee and board is thrilled that he is as excited about coming to Temple Israel as we are about having him join us.

Temple by-laws require that the congregation ratify the Board’s decision. To fulfill this responsibility, we invite you to attend a congregational meeting on Sunday, January 22 at 11:30 am. Religious School will be dismissed early so our children will be able to join their parents for this historic moment in the life of Temple Israel. We have invited Rabbi Stoller and his family to join us so that you can meet him in person and hear his vision for our congregation.

Thank you for your continued support throughout this transition process. The relationships that have built Temple’s rich history, vibrant present, and exciting future will energize us all as we continue to move from strength to strength.

Rabbinic Updateby Dan Gilbert and Andie Gordman, Co-Chairs Senior Rabbi Search CommitteeOctober 20, 2016With the holidays wrapping up, the Senior Rabbi Search Committee work has started to accelerate. To date, we have had 9 applicants for our senior rabbi position and the committee has agreed to advance 6 of them forward to a remote video interview. Our candidates have a diverse set of experiences and have led a broad range of congregations around the country.

We are excited and enthusiastic about our candidates and believe we may have even more candidates apply in the next few weeks. At the same time, we are very keenly aware of the interests and needs of our very diverse congregation and the enormity of the task of finding the right person for Temple Israel at this time in our congregation’s history. The committee is conducting video interviews with candidates throughout October. By early November, the committee is aiming to have selected the candidates we want to move forward with for further video interviews and eventually to face-to-face meetings. Our committee’s goal is to conclude our process and have a new senior rabbi selected in very early 2017.Thank you for your patience, support and commitment to the long term strength of Temple Israel. Please contact committee co-chairs Andie Gordman or Dan Gilbert with any questions or concerns, we want to hear from you.

Rabbinic Updateby Dan Gilbert and Andie Gordman, Co-Chairs Senior Rabbi Search CommitteeSeptember 1, 2016The Temple Israel Senior Rabbinic Search Committee has reconvened and is moving forward with our search process. The committee posted the job application (application summary) in July and we have started receiving resumes. Our interviewing process is in place, and we feel confident that we will receive a pool of highly-qualified applicants to lead our community.

We will start the initial interview process in September. Our timing will be affected by the holidays and it is likely that our new senior rabbi will be hired early in 2017. The search committee has been in constant communication with the CCAR placement office about our process. Rabbi Crystal and Rabbi Azriel have both been very helpful in understanding the timing, process, and sharing their knowledge about the bigger picture of rabbinic hiring. Keep watching this space for updates, thanks for your continued support.

Share Your Thoughts About Our Next Senior Rabbiby Dan Gilbert and Andie Gordman, Co-Chairs Senior Rabbi Search Committee, and Rosie Zweiback, PresidentJuly 8, 2016We hope you are enjoying your summer! We are writing with an update on the search process for Temple Israel’s next senior rabbi. Your engagement in the initial part of the search process has been valuable, and we thank you for investing the time to provide us with your thoughts.

The Senior Rabbi Search Committee met regularly from February through May and listened to our clergy, staff and congregants of all ages to understand what we love about Temple Israel and the qualities we desire in our next senior rabbi. We held a Community Conversation on April 27 and conducted an online survey to give congregants a chance to interact and provide feedback. With the assistance of our educators and staff, we heard directly from our youth to understand their thoughts and feelings about our community and the leadership. Rabbi Darryl Crystal, our interim rabbi, has assisted our group with guidance from his experience of leading congregations through transitions and has connected us with successful search committee leaders from around the country.

The search committee distilled all the feedback you shared into our official application, which is now posted on the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) website. The CCAR assists congregations with the process of hiring Rabbis. You can view an introductory video created by Temple Israel member Elias Ginsberg and sections of our application on the Temple Israel website, http://templeisraelomaha.com/transition/candidates

The tentative timeline for the next steps in the process are as follows:

We will continue to share periodic updates with you in the weekly eTidings and the monthly Tidings. In addition, you can follow the progress of the search on our website, http://templeisraelomaha.com/transition

As always, we remain grateful for your participation and your support of this process. If you have any questions feel free to contact Andie Gordman, andie.gordman@me.com or 402-319-7798, or Dan Gilbert, dmgilbert@gmail.com or 402-203-2894.

Add Your Voice to the Rabbinic SearchApril 28, 2016 Couldn't make our community conversation? Have another idea that you want to share? Every voice is important as we build on Rabbi Azriel's 28 years of service and Temple Israel's 145 years of history. Please visit the Senior Rabbi Search Committee survey to share your input about what makes Temple Israel special and what qualities we should look for in our next spiritual leader.

Share Your Thoughts About Our Next Senior Rabbiby Dan Gilbert and Andie Gordman, Co-Chairs Senior Rabbi Search CommitteeApril 7, 2016What do you love about Temple Israel? What qualities are most important for our next senior rabbi? What would you ask the candidates? How would you describe Temple Israel to them?

Every voice is important as we build on Rabbi Azriel’s 28 years of service and Temple Israel’s 145 years of history. The Senior Rabbi Search Committee invites you to join in conversation about the future of our congregation and the qualities we are looking for in our next spiritual leader. Please join us: